Serengeti, a.k.a. David Cohn, may indeed be the next Otis Jackson, Jr.. The clues are hard to ignore. On Dennehy, his third album, he affected multiple personalities to weave a tapestry of Chicagoan culture. He’s pounded out five albums in less than two years, an output rate rivaling that of only the many-monikered Jackson. He’s also sick of “hipster booty rap,” and is, as we’ve heard before, trying to create “an alternative future of hip-hop.”
It’s unfair just to compare Cohn to Jackson, but on Don't Give Up, his eighth album, it's hard to overlook Cohn’s continuing struggle to find his most natural sound, which has also been Jackson's struggle for the last 12 years.
This album's pronounced stylistic dichotomy creates an unpleasant push-pull effect. Serengeti and his collaborator Polyphonic the Verbose switch between a quirky (but still grooving) hip-hop flow and an ambient, trancey soundscape, as if uncertain about what kind of record they want to make. You have to wonder what this album would be like had it been set up in a more cohesive way or at least given the self-aware division of an album like David Bowie’s Low.
Despite its mindfuck of a track sequence, Don't Give Up packs some absolutely brilliant moments. “Puppydog Love” kicks off with a nice Streets reference, Cohn smirking, “So the last relationship/ Fucked me up/ You treated me good/ But I beated you up, baby.” The song then makes its way through a few spacey, funky verses before launching full-throttle into a grimey break, complete with boosted bass and beautiful synth sweeps.
But how much of this is actually hip-hop? Aside from its constant flow of spoken, rhyming words, this music has a lot more in common with trance, ambient, and house. There are very few “hip-hop” characteristics, -- rarely a verse/chorus pattern, hardly any “hip-hop” drums. The question of what makes hip-hop what it is has filled entire books, and it’s hard not to ponder it again here.
That said, Serengeti and Polyphonic have not redefined hip-hop as we know it -- we’ve got Stones Throw and company to thank for that. But their latest offering is an important addition to experimental hip-hop's ever-growing history. Even though its production and composition aren't as polished as they could be, Don’t Give Up is a solid release that deserves a listen from anyone who questions the boundaries between hip-hop and experimental music.
1. Eleven
2. Puppydog Love
3. Lately I Havent Been Feeling Well
4. Slew Of Things Differently
5. Praha
6. 2 Times 2
7. Waste Of Time
8. Rambo
9. Mom’s A Commie
10. Don’t Give Up
11. Sunrise